CNN News - White House, experts dismiss Iran naval threat to U.S. coast, Sep 28, 2011

Iranian clerics in front of the Jamran, Iran's first domestically built warship, during naval maneuvers in the Gulf in 2009.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The White House says it doesn't take the Iranian claim seriously
• A Pentagon spokesman questions Iran's naval capability
• Miltiary experts say Iran is incapable of deploying ships off the U.S. coast
• State-run news agency says there will be a "powerful presence" near U.S. borders

(CNN) -- The White House on Wednesday dismissed an Iranian threat to deploy warships near the U.S. coast, and military experts said Iran lacks the naval capability to do so.

Overnight Tuesday, Iranian state news quoted a commander as saying his country plans to have a "powerful presence" near the U.S. border.

In response, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that "we don't take these statements seriously, given that they do not reflect at all Iran's naval capabilities."

Pentagon spokesman George Little echoed Carney's point, saying Iran has the right to send vessels into international waters, but "whether they can truly project naval power beyond the region is another question."

"I wouldn't read too much into what came out of Iran today," Little said, adding: "I think what is said and what is actually done can be two different things."